Author: Vincent Osuwo

Three Gombe State University students were injured after a gas explosion destroyed a female hostel annexe on Thursday night. The bungalow-shaped annexe on campus was engulfed in flames, which were assumed to be caused by a cooking gas explosion. In an interview with our correspondent on Friday, the Public Relations Officer of the Federal Fire Service, Gombe Command, Assistant Superintendent of Fire Bashir Muazu, confirmed the occurrence as “unfortunate.” “It was caused by LPG, cooking gas. Based on preliminary investigation, it was caused by unattended cooking by a student,” Muazu said. He stated that three pupils were brought to the…

Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Friday it was ready to release hostages held in Gaza under a peace deal proposed by President Donald Trump but wanted negotiations on the details and a say in the future of the Palestinian territory. “The movement announces its approval for the release of all hostages—living and remains—according to the exchange formula included in President Trump’s proposal,” Hamas said in a statement, adding it was ready to enter talks “to discuss the details.” Trump’s peace proposal for Gaza, released this week and supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a truce, the…

Former media aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Garba Shehu, has faulted the claim by former President Goodluck Jonathan that the Boko Haram terrorists nominated Buhari to represent them in their negotiations with the then government. In a statement issued Friday night, Shehu refuted Jonathan’s assertion, pointing out that in 2014, Buhari averted a bomb attack on his life by Boko Haram in Kaduna, in which his personal staff were injured to varying degrees. The statement read, “We are compelled to make a response to a terrible statement made about the late president Muhammadu Buhari by his predecessor in office,…

Paul Ibe, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s media adviser, believes his principal deserves a Nobel Prize for his repeated bids to become Nigeria’s president. Atiku, a presidential candidate since 1992, is in the running for the 2027 presidential election, despite the fact that the former vice president has yet to openly declare his interest in the upcoming election. While speaking on Trust TV’s ‘Daily Politics’ on Thursday, Ibe dismissed the narrative that Atiku has contested for presidential election too many times. He said, “Atiku Abubakar has been on the ballot three times for the record. That was in 2007 under…

Music tycoon Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to more than four years in jail on Friday following his conviction on prostitution-related charges. Prosecutors requested 11 years in prison for Combs, but Judge Arun Subramanian imposed a 50-month sentence during an emotional daylong court session. Diddy’s ‘ lawyers had requested the judge to sentence the 55-year-old hip-hop legend to 14 months in prison, which would have essentially been time served given that he had been in custody in Brooklyn for more than a year. Diddy addressed the court before the judge handed down the punishment, saying he was “truly sorry” for…

Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal is out for “two to three weeks” after aggravating a groin injury, and he will miss Spain’s World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria next week. The 18-year-old, who missed four games when the issue surfaced on international duty in September, returned to action on Sunday, coming off the bench to help Barcelona defeat Real Sociedad 2-1. However, the injury flared up again after Yamal played in Barcelona’s Champions League defeat to Paris St. Germain on Wednesday. Barcelona said, “The groin problem for Lamine Yamal has returned following the game against PSG. “The player will miss…

Manchester United and Manchester City will pay tribute to the victims of the Manchester synagogue attack before their Premier League matches this weekend. However, tributes will not be held routinely across the Premier League or English Football League over Thursday’s incident, which killed two people and injured three others. United players will wear black armbands and hold a minute’s silence before their match against Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday. Ruben Amorim, United’s men’s manager, stated during a news conference on Friday: “It is a crazy world we are living in at the moment; a lot of big things happened.…

Chaos erupted in the Idogun community, Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Friday as some angry youths reportedly beat up the town’s monarch, Oba Moses Bakare, his wife, and his son, identified as Victor. The incident took place during the annual New Yam festival, and the monarch was injured, while his wife was reportedly beaten and stripped half-naked by the enraged adolescents. Though the cause of the attack was not immediately determined, a resident of the town, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, claimed certain inhabitants had long been at odds with the king. Benue mob sets…

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has stated that the Boko Haram terrorists previously proposed former President Muhammadu Buhari to represent them in peace talks with the federal government. Jonathan made the announcement on Friday at the Abuja public launch of Scars, a book written by former Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Lucky Irabor (retd.). The former president stated that his administration had formed multiple committees to explore engagement with the group, and that on one of these occasions, the terrorists nominated Buhari as their favorite negotiator. He went on to say that based on that, he believed it would have been…

Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi’s supporters have reacted to ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s vow not to move aside for any competitor in his bid to clinch the African Democratic Congress ticket for the 2027 presidential election. The Obidient Movement, Obi’s followers, denounced Atiku’s stance as “mind games,” stressing that their leader would never get caught up in the murky politics of vote-buying or dollarized delegate inducement that dominate Nigeria’s political party primaries. Dr. Yunusa Tanko, the group’s National Coordinator and former campaign spokesman, told The PUNCH that Obi’s political vision contrasted sharply with the transactional politics that other…